senator dick durbin. a little more specific today. he said progressives, that would be you and me, should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of medicare and medicaid but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff. democrats are prepared to discuss reforms to medicare and medicaid, but not right now. fox news tried to get budget committee chair member congressman chris van hollen to agree to the changes. van hollen stood firm. >> if you prolong the program, people are living longer, isn't that age outvoted? >> there are a lot better ways to have doing it? >> you're not willing to change the age? >> no. because there are much better ways of dealing with medicare costs. >> it's just so heart warming that somebody on fox news thinks i'm going to live a little longer. social security is off the table. white house press secretary jay kearney kiss missed any changes saying it's not, it is not the driver of the deficit. this is a step in the right direction for more than 55 million